Aurangabad DM reinstates sacked Dalit widow MDM cook

Aurangabad (Bihar), July 27: In an exemplary action, the District Magistrate of Bihar's Aurangabad has reinstated a Dalit widow as the midday meal cook at a school and also shared the food prepared by her with the students.

DM Kanwal Tanuj also ordered suspension of school headmaster Govind Kumar Yadav who had sacked the cook after her husband passed away.

Moved by the complaint registered by the hapless woman Urmila Kuwar, Tanuj himself paid a visit to Batura middle school under Rafiganj block here yesterday and ate the midday meal prepared by the woman at the school with other students.

"My humanitarian instinct compelled me to do justice with the woman. Besides, I also wanted to give a strong social message against caste and social ills of distancing from widow to the people," the DM said today.

The school headmaster who had sacked the widow has been expelled and a new headmaster took charge of the school today, he said.

Departmental inquiry has been initiated against the headmaster on instruction from the DM to the district education officer Yaduvansh Ram.

The woman, whose husband died recently was solely dependent on a paltry Rs 1,000 she used to get from cooking the meal at the school.

She was fired on Monday, the DM said quoting from her complaint.

From this meagre income of Rs 1,000 she was feeding four minor children and deprivation of it forced her to petition the DM against the injustice, he added. Tanuj said the students were very happy on return of the cook.

PTI